In the first half of 2024, micro -enterprises incurred costs for electricity more than twice and a half higher than large companies, with a gap of the +164.7%. In particular, craftsmen, small traders and micro -enterprises with consumption of less than 20 MWh per year paid the energy 348.3 euros to the MWH (net of VAT), while large companies, with consumption between 70 thousand and 150 thousand MWh per year, have faced a clearly lower cost, equal to 131.6 euros per MWH. To highlight this disparity is the Cgia Study Office.
In Italy the cost of electricity is the highest in the eurozone
The price disparity between micro and large companies is not an exclusively Italian phenomenon, but it is also found in the rest of Europe, where energy costs favor larger companies at the expense of the smallest. In Italy, as already highlighted, micro -enterprises pay electricity 164.7% more than the big company. In comparison, in Germany The gap is of +136.2%in Spain it touches +200% and in France reaches +242%.
However, it should be emphasized that, compared to our main European competitors, the economic and employment role of micro -enterprises in Italy is particularly relevant and has no equal in the rest of the continent; In fact, these represent 95% of the country’s economic activities and employ around 42% of the workforce, excluding the public sector.
Among the countries of the euro area, Italy records the cost of electricity higher for micro -enterprises. In the first half of 2024, the price of electricity for these activities reached 348.3 euros for MWH, exceeding 18.5% the average of the 20 countries monitored by Eurostat, equal to 294 euros for MWH. Compared to the main European competitors, Italian micro -enterprises pay 5.8% more than the German ones, 38% more than the French and 43.2% more than the Spanish.
Because small and medium -sized enterprises are more penalized
The expansion of the tariff gap between small and large companies in the electricity sector was accentuated by the entry into force, in 2018, of Energy reform. This measure introduced subsidized rates for large industries, significantly reducing the “taxes and charges” component for the latter and redistributing the load on companies excluded from the facilities.
However, the measures adopted subsequently by the Draghi government contributed to reducing this gap. It is important to underline that, in the free market, the price offers only concern the energy component, while other expenditure items – such as transport costs, system charges and the management of the meter – are periodically defined by the energy authority and remain unchanged for all suppliers.
Compared to other European countries, the weight of taxes and charges on electricity bills in Italy It is particularly high. In fact, these costs affect the 18.4% On the price at the MWH, a much higher value than 14.7% in Germany, 8.5% in Spain and 3.5% in France. The average in the Eurozone is 9.6%, almost half compared to the Italian one. If the very small and large Italian companies are compared, it appears that, with a total cost of electricity equal to 100, the incidence of taxes/charges and network costs for micro -enterprises is three times higher than that of large companies.
